Month: March 2017

It’s difficult constantly worrying where the next quality new appointments will come from.

High-income Advisors constantly feel this “quality new appointment stress“ and they succeed in spite of it. But, they do want a better way, free from anxiety.This is also true for Advisors with more moderate incomes.

But you can’t let your ego get in the way. Put it aside for a while… to learn.

The initial step is to create and share a “New Marketing Story”. This is not just any story. (See posts below)

Quality activity will go way up and stress will go way down when Advisors move away from their old marketing story to a new client-centric story.

The 60 Day Rule
Any marketing story worth its salt should feel right and create positive, measurable results within 60 days. If it doesn’t, stop what you’re doing.

An effective marketing story provides new 1st appointments with qualified people personally introduced by your best clients … within 60 days and for the rest of your career.

The Marketing Story Guide

1. Make your clients and prospective clients the hero of your story. Ultimately, your story is not about you, it’s about your clients, your clients’ friends and family. No one wants to hear you sell yourself.

Tom Stanley and William D. Danko spent more than 20 years interviewing thousands of millionaires concerning their lifestyle habits and wrote the book titled, “The Millionaire Next Door”. They dispelled the myth that the typical millionaire drives a Rolls-Royce automobile, lives in a multi-million dollar mansion, owns a Rolex watch, and wears tailor made suits.

How many clients do you have who fit most or all of the profile they created (below)?

Have you considered that these clients may be your best centers of influence and that you could build a career and an amazing business working with them and the people they know who are just like them?

It can happen if they believe in who you are…not just what you do.

Profile of The Millionaire Next Door
The typical millionaire is more likely to drive a second-hand General Motors car, live in a house with an average property value of $320,000, wear a watch costing less than $100, and buy their suits off the rack for between $200-$300—the suit was probably on sale.

The single biggest characteristic typical millionaires exhibit is living within their means. They are prodigious savers, not prodigious spenders. The typical millionaire is frugal and saves or invests much of their income.

On average, the typical millionaire saves and invests 20 percent of their income, versus the average American savings of less than five percent. They are debt-free and have no mortgage or automobile notes.

Most millionaires did not win the lottery, win money on a TV game show, or picked the next Microsoft on the stock market. Many are self-employed in small businesses working in “dull-normal” areas like pest control, paving contract work, or welding. Most millionaires work 45 to 55 hours per week.

Most marry once and are still married. Most typical millionaires did not score well on their SATs for college and were not voted most likely to succeed while in high school. Most millionaires are self-made, receiving no inheritance and little financial aid from relatives.

The typical millionaire does spend generously on services that can help them plan their finances better like estate planners, accountants, and lawyers who specialize in guarding property and wealth.

They invest in education. They typically have a broker, but they make their own investment decisions. The typical millionaire achieved their results over time through discipline, hard work, and focus on their goals. The typical millionaire lives in a neighborhood where 75 percent of the residents are non-millionaires. They generally do not stand out.

In an ideal world, your book would consist entirely of clients who are similar to your favorite clients — those who are both a pleasure to work with and profitable.

We all know that ideal way to duplicate your best clients is to be personally introduced by them to their friends or colleagues who are just like your best clients.

We know many of your best clients

are far more likely to personally introduce you to their friends and colleagues in order to help their friends and colleagues – if you are all about service.

are less inclined to make these introductions to help you increase your bottom line – if you are all about sales.

are more likely to truly listen to your story (not a sales pitch) if it is one about service, if the story is about who you are rather than what you do.

will agree to become your advocate if you have a great story, one of service.

Characteristics of a simple and effective client centric marketing process.

1. Permission Based – Practicing Permission Based Interaction with clients.

2. Determine the clients you’d like to duplicate – Consider looking at a number factors to determine your top clients including: assets under management; quality of the relationship; rate of repeat business; are they grateful people; are they cooperative.

3. The Five Minute Open – A very brief permission-based call, to a client you want to duplicate, telling them about your prospective client advocacy program and asking for an in-person meeting (1 hour close) to discuss the your program … once you’re ready to announce it. Most, if not all, will agree to the meeting.

4. Developing A Great Marketing Story – It’s surprising that so many Advisors, of all income levels, don’t realize the value of a carefully crafted marketing story and are blown away by its impact on the listener…and on revenue, growth and business valuation.

A great marketing story subtly focuses on the client’s “worldview”… that most people don’t fully trust the financial industry or Financial Advisors. ( “People Don’t Trust You” post) This is their worldview, their bias.

5. One Hour Close – In this meeting the Advisor shares their Marketing Story and the client advocacy program and, if permission is given, has a discussion with the client about becoming an Advocate and warmly introducing qualified friends and colleagues to the Advisor…as a service to their friends and colleagues.

What is “The Free Five Minute Open Challenge”?

Arrange an appointment with us for one hour.

In preparation for the call have a list prepared of clients you’d like to duplicate.

We will discuss the list and pick out 5 to 10 names for “The Challenge”.

We will have a quick discussion about a client-centric marketing process.

We will spend a extra time on the “five minute open” outline which we will provide to you for “The Challenge”.

You will spend the next week conducting “five minute open” calls with the clients you selected from your list.

“The Challenge” ends with a call with us to discuss the your “5 minute open” results.

You will find that almost every client will agree to meet with you to discuss their advocacy once you announce the program.

Client Centric Marketing, a division of MB Marketing, Inc., teaches Advisors how to work with the qualified friends, family and colleagues of their most valuable clients, the clients they want to duplicate.